§2.59.1nihil eorum Volsci nesciebant instabantque eo magis sperantes idem certamen animorum adversus Appium habiturum exercitum Romanum, quod adversus Fabium consulem habuisset.
The Volscians were by no means ignorant of these things, and they pressed on all the more eagerly, hoping that the Roman army would maintain the same spirit of opposition against Appius as they had held against the consul Fabius.
§2.59.2ceterum multo Appio quam Fabio violentior fuit; non enim vincere tantum noluit, ut Fabianus exercitus, sed vinci voluit.
But the opposition to Appius was far more violent than that to Fabius; for the army not only refused to conquer, as Fabius's army had done, but actually wished to be conquered.
productus in aciem turpi fuga petit castra nec ante restitit, quam signa inferentem Volscum munimentis vidit foedamque extremi agminis caedem.
Drawn up in battle array, they headed for the camp in shameful flight, and did not stop until they saw the Volscians attacking the fortifications and a foul slaughter of their rear guard.
§2.59.3tum expressa vis ad pugnandum, ut victor iam a vallo submoveretur hostis, satis tamen appareret capi tantum castra militem Romanum noluisse, alibi gaudere sua clade atque ignominia.
Then a force was wrung from them to fight, so that the enemy, already victorious, was driven back from the rampart; yet it remained clear enough that the Roman soldiers had merely been unwilling for their camp to be captured, but elsewhere rejoiced in their own defeat and disgrace.
§2.59.4quibus nihil infractus ferox Appii animus cum insuper saevire vellet contionemque advocaret, concurrunt ad eum legati tribunique monentes, ne ubique experiri vellet imperium, cuius vis omnis in consensu oboedientium esset.
In no way broken by these events, the fierce mind of Appius wished to rage even further and called an assembly; but the legates and tribunes ran to him, warning him not to try his authority everywhere, since all its power lay in the consent of those who obey.
§2.59.5negare vulgo milites se ad contionem ituros, passimque exaudiri voces postulantium, ut castra ex Volsco agro moveantur.
The soldiers commonly declared that they would not go to the assembly, and voices were heard everywhere demanding that the camp be moved out of Volscian territory.
hostem victorem paulo ante prope in portis ac vallo fuisse, ingentisque mali non suspicionem modo sed apertam speciem obversari ante oculos.
They cried out that the victorious enemy had been near their gates and rampart only a short while before, and that not merely a suspicion, but the clear sight of a massive disaster was rising before their eyes.
§2.59.6victus tandem, quando quidem nihil praeter tempus noxae lucrarentur, remissa contione iter in insequentem diem pronuntiari cum iussisset, prima luce classico signum profectionis dedit.
Yielding at last, since they would gain nothing but a delay of punishment, he dismissed the assembly and, after ordering the march to be announced for the following day, gave the signal for departure by trumpet at dawn.
§2.59.7cum maxime agmen e castris explicaretur, Volsci, ut eodem signo excitati, novissimos adoriuntur.
Just as the column was deploying from the camp, the Volscians, as if aroused by the same signal, attacked the rear.
a quibus perlatus ad primos tumultus eo pavore signaque et ordines turbavit, ut neque imperia exaudiri neque instrui acies posset.
The panic carried from them to the front ranks threw both standards and ranks into such confusion that orders could not be heard, nor could a line of battle be formed.
nemo ullius nisi fugae memor.
No one thought of anything but flight.
§2.59.8ita effuso agmine per stragem corporum armorumque evasere, ut prius hostis desisteret sequi quam Romanus fugere.
Thus they escaped in a scattered column through a carnage of bodies and weapons, so that the enemy ceased to pursue before the Romans ceased to flee.
§2.59.9tandem collectis ex dissipato cursu militibus consul, cum revocando nequiquam suos persecutus esset, in pacato agro castra posuit; advocataque contione invectus haud falso in proditorem exercitum militaris disciplinae, §2.59.10desertorem signorum, ubi signa, ubi arma essent, singulos rogitans, §2.59.11inermes milites, signo amisso signiferos, ad hoc centuriones duplicariosque, qui reliquerant ordines, virgis caesos securi percussit; cetera multitudo sorte decumus quisque ad supplicium lecti.
At last, having collected the soldiers from their scattered flight, the consul, after pursuing his men in vain to recall them, pitched camp in a peaceful territory; and having called an assembly, he inveighed with no false justice against the army as a betrayer of military discipline, asking each one where their standards were, and where their weapons were, as deserters of their standards, he scourged with rods and beheaded with the axe the unarmed soldiers, the standard-bearers who had lost their standards, and furthermore the centurions and double-pay soldiers who had left their ranks; as for the rest of the multitude, every tenth man chosen by lot was led to execution.